What makes up oxytocin

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And with the right partner s , these aspects of kink can all be super sexy. Autosexual people are mainly sexually attracted to themselves. They typically experience little to no sexual attraction to other people.

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Have sex. Cuddle or hug. Do something nice for someone. Pet dogs. The bottom line. Read this next. Oxytocin, under certain circumstances, indirectly inhibits release of adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol and, in those situations, may be considered an antagonist of vasopressin.

Oxytocin secreted from the pituitary gland cannot re-enter the brain because of the blood-brain barrier. Instead, the behavioral effects of oxytocin are thought to reflect release from centrally projecting oxytocin neurons, different from those that project to the pituitary gland. Oxytocin receptors are expressed by neurons in many parts of the brain and spinal cord, including the amygdala, ventromedial hypothalamus, septum and brainstem.

Sexual arousal. Oxytocin injected into the cerebrospinal fluid causes spontaneous erections in rats,[12] reflecting actions in the hypothalamus and spinal cord. In the Prairie Vole, oxytocin released into the brain of the female during sexual activity is important for forming a monogamous pair bond with her sexual partner. Vasopressin appears to have a similar effect in males. Oxytocin has a role in social behaviors in many species, and so it seems likely that it has similar roles in humans.

A study found significantly lower levels of oxytocin in blood plasma of autistic children. Sheep and rat females given oxytocin antagonists after giving birth do not exhibit typical maternal behavior.

By contrast, virgin female sheep show maternal behavior towards foreign lambs upon cerebrospinal fluid infusion of oxytocin, which they would not do otherwise. In a risky investment game, experimental subjects given nasally administered oxytocin displayed "the highest level of trust" twice as often as the control group. Subjects who were told that they were interacting with a computer showed no such reaction, leading to the conclusion that oxytocin was not merely affecting risk-aversion.

Affecting generosity by increasing empathy during perspective taking. Perspective-taking is not required in the Dictator Game, but the researchers in this experimental explicitly induced perspective-taking in the Ultimatum Game by not identifying to participants which role they would be in. Crossing the placenta, maternal oxytocin reaches the fetal brain and induces a switch in the action of neurotransmitter GABA from excitatory to inhibitory on fetal cortical neurons.

This silences the fetal brain for the period of delivery and reduces its vulnerability to hypoxic damage. Synthetic oxytocin is sold as medication under the trade names Pitocin and Syntocinon and also as generic oxytocin.

Oxytocin is destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract, and therefore must be administered by injection or as nasal spray. Oxytocin has a half-life of typically about three minutes in the blood. Oxytocin given intravenously does not enter the brain in significant quantities - it is excluded from the brain by the blood-brain barrier.

There is no evidence for significant CNS entry of oxytocin by nasal spray. During breastfeeding, oxytocin promotes the movement of milk through the ducts in the breast, allowing it to be excreted by the nipple. Oxytocin is also present in men, playing a role in sperm transport and production of testosterone by the testes. In the brain, oxytocin acts as a chemical messenger and has an important role in many human behaviours.

Oxytocin is a hormone that acts on organs in the body including the breast and uterus and as a chemical messenger in the brain, controlling key aspects of the reproductive system, including childbirth and lactation, and aspects of human behaviour. Secretion depends on electrical activity of neurons in the hypothalamus — it is released into the blood when these cells are excited.

The two main actions of oxytocin in the body are contraction of the womb uterus during childbirth and lactation. Manufactured oxytocin is sometimes given to induce labour if it has not started naturally or it can be used to strengthen contractions to aid childbirth. In the brain, oxytocin acts as a chemical messenger and has an important role in many human behaviours including sexual arousal, recognition, trust, romantic attachment and mother—infant bonding.

As a result, oxytocin has been called the 'love hormone' or 'cuddle chemical'. The effect of oxytocin on the brain is complex. Current research is focused on examining the role of oxytocin in various disorders including addiction, depression , post-traumatic stress, anxiety and anorexia. Oxytocin production and secretion is controlled by a positive feedback mechanism where release of the hormone causes an action that stimulates more of its own release.

The hormone increases the strength and frequency of uterine contractions during labor and helps shrink the uterus after delivery, according to a chapter in the book " Drugs During Pregnancy and Lactation " Elsevier B.

When an infant suckles at their mother's breast, the stimulation causes the mom's body to release oxytocin, which, in turn, orders the body to "let down" milk for the baby to drink.

Oxytocin also promotes mother-child bonding. Studies show that "female rats find pups to be aversive if [the females are] virgins," Young told Live Science. And similar findings are seen in humans. The Association of Psychological Science found that the higher a mom's oxytocin levels in the first trimester of pregnancy , the more likely she was to engage in bonding behaviors such as singing to or bathing her baby. Related: 11 interesting effects of Oxytocin. Although maternal bonding may not always be hardwired — after all, human females can adopt babies and take care of them — oxytocin released during pregnancy "does seem to have a role in motivation and feelings of connectedness to a baby," Young said.

Studies also show that interacting with a baby causes the infant's own oxytocin levels to increase, he added. In men, oxytocin also facilitates bonding. In previous research, dads who got a boost of oxytocin via a nasal spray played more closely with their 5-month-old babies than dads who didn't get the hormone zap, Live Science reported.